Seeing the cheeky Bali monkeys should be somewhere near the top of your Indonesia bucket list, and the Ubud Monkey Forest Sanctuary is the most popular place to do it.
Almost 1,000 monkeys live at the Bali monkey forest! This is a 12 hectare (30 acre) jungle area surrounding an old 14th century Hindu temple, located in the heart of Ubud.
It’s fun, family friendly, and affordable, and you get to interact with the animals in a more natural setting than a zoo. What’s not to like?
This travel guide will explain how to get to the Ubud monkey forest, current entrance fees, and everything else you need to know before you go!
It may sound weird, but the Instagram famous monkey forest was one of the biggest inspirations for my first trip to Bali years ago.
I saw all the moss covered statues in the jungle, and the pictures of people posing with monkeys in Ubud, and it looked really fun to me. Opinions of the monkey forest are all over the place. Some love it, some hate it.
A lot of people are scared of monkeys, so they’d rather stay far away from this place. I like monkeys, so going here seemed like a really fun and authentic experience that you can’t have anywhere else.
Now that my wife and I live in Bali, we’ve gone back to the monkey forest many times, with and without friends, and it’s always funny to watch the monkeys’ ridiculous antics.
No matter who you are, you’re guaranteed to have some memorable experiences at this place!
The Bali monkey forest can be a bit wild. You’ve been warned!
I’ve seen the monkeys in Ubud crawl on peoples’ faces, pull down women’s tops and lift up their dresses, chew on peoples’ hair like a snack, drink from water bottles, steal sunglasses, and just flop down and take naps in the middle of the walking path. Somehow I’ve miraculously escaped being peed on, even though I’ve let countless Bali monkeys climb on my shoulders over the years. With that said, this is a place where you have a fairly good chance of being peed on, robbed, or even bitten. If you don’t like cheeky monkeys, then stay far away!
I’ve gotten a few bites, but nothing serious, and the Bali monkeys don’t really have any diseases to worry about (see the safety discussion later in this guide). There are about 1,000 monkeys living here at the jungle sanctuary in more than 6 different groups, so it’s quite a party. The Ubud monkey forest is a bit different from a zoo, because the monkeys are free to come and go as they please. This is their natural habitat. The monkeys live here, and sleep in the banyan trees. You’re going into their cherished monkey living quarters. Their jungle palace, if you will. Still, you can help feed the monkeys or take pictures with them. They’re easy to interact with, partly because of the helpful staff at the Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary.
The monkeys in Ubud are fed three times a day, mainly with a combination of sweet potatoes and bananas, along with the occasional papaya leaves and seasonal fruit. This monkey species is called the Balinese long-tailed macaque, or crab-eating macaque. The scientific name is Macaca fascicularis. Baby monkeys stay with their mothers until they’re about 10 months old, gradually learning the ways of the jungle, and they’re just as cute as you might expect.